elegant musings

beyond this point from roxanne on Vimeo.

cassandra & i filmed this yesterday. i wanted to
film with my 8mm camera but i think there is something wrong
with it :/ at least digital is more immediately satisfying.
i would like to add sound to it but i need to record or find some somehow...
all i ahve on my computer is prince.

I just finished doing the grommets...my thumb and finger is sore from trying to separate the fabric around the grommet shank...now onto bones

:/

French Macaroons = 1
J & B = 0

I was so afraid of over mixing the batter that I think I didn't mix it enough... B says they came out constipated. LOL! Here's hoping batch #two will be better! *crossing fingers*

I actually worked on my new Regency stays last night! The cording is almost done. Well, the sewing for the cording, anyway.

Predictably, I ran out of the silk buttonhole twist that I was using to sew the cording in. However, since I expected this, I was careful about how I used it. Instead of doing a section and finishing and cording it, I sewed all the outer outlines and now just have a few of the inner parts left. I'm going to sew those in some pearl cotton that I have. It's thinner than the buttonhole twist, but hopefully won't be too bad a compromise since I'd rather not order more buttonhole twist. I could actually do the eyelets, bind them and save the rest of the cording for last, but I don't want to. Enough of a reason, I think.

I'm starting to be ready to be done with the corset. I'm enjoying working on it, but really need to move on! I can't do the dress without it. Well, I could use my old stays but I'm not completely happy with them anymore. They're too thick--even though I based the thickness on a period source, I don't like four layers--and they end at just the wrong spot over my stomach. I'm sure they didn't end there when I first made them!

And no stays? Seriously not an option. Regency looks horrible on me without stays! Majorly frumpy :)

I'm home today.  I had another migraine last night ('tis the season or what? I don't get it, once a week for the past month or so) and so I didn't work on anything. 

I called in after getting ready for work this morning because I could feel that pain in the middle of my brain twinge with certain little movements and knew when faced with the morning commute, snow, cold, then work, it would surely hit me again and I'd want to come home later, so I just didn't leave.  

So I crawled back in bed and slept for hours.  I'm still worried about triggering it, but I really want to use this extra bit of time to get things done. 

I need to get my corset finished before I can start mocking-up my bodice...so I hope to do some of that today.  Pounding grommets though, doesn't sound like the best idea...but what else can I do?

One of Brad's gifts came today! If he doesn't read this I can show it to you.  My DH, if you haven't gathered from previous emails is an IT geek.  He's also a bit of a vampire :) no not really.  He just has sensitive eyes...I do too sometimes more than others and used to avoid sunlight more when I worked night shifts...anyway, I found this when brainstorming for gifts.  It's not thoughtful, but it's funny and I think he'll appreciate the humor too.  He was in need of a geeky tee :)

I think that December is a good time to post this--it seems to me that quite a few of us, self included, get very gloomy at the end of the year. So without further ado, here is a reflection on despair from a Christian perspective.

( I am a little nervous because this is a controversial topic and I'm taking an unpopular position, but I think it needs to be said )

I live in Narnia:



It's not really cold: -14C/7F. Mowgli would probably be ok going outside for a little while except the snow is too deep for him.

( Continued behind the cut. )

This is so genius I can't even say:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1925557

(It's a Harry Potter/name your school-in-trouble-movie-of-your-choice mash-up)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CaseysMusings/~3/4UeW55M-EyA/

http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/?p=2155

While my mother emailed me regular updates over the weekend about the big snowstorm that dumped on the northern portions of the East Coast, Sailor Husband and I were busy creating our own version of a winter snowstorm! I have to admit, one of the wintertime things we both miss the most in Florida is snow. I don’t miss shoveling it, or having to deal with bad traffic due to snow, I miss the magic of a snowfall. So we did a “Florida version” by hanging a bunch of white tissue paper pom poms (tutorial on Martha here) and snowflake ornaments (courtesy Target after-Christmas sale, a couple years ago). Capturing the magic it adds to the space in a photo was difficult; but every time I walk into the room I smile and feel a little like wintertime has visited us!

I also wanted to show you some other pictures of things that have been tweaked or gone up around here for Christmas! (More photos here.) The gingerbread house was finished (I based it on this template), and I have to admit, I am so excited about it! I did a little dance after I finished it. hehe! I was going for a “Hansel and Gretel” look; encrusted with candy! Sailor Husband keeps asking when he can eat it. lol! (If you’re interested, here’s the page I found on making the icing “icicles” that hang from the front roof.) It’s right next to my little white feather tree that is bedecked with the cupcake ornaments, so I’ve dubbed this the “Sweets Corner”.

These are the $1 tinsel wreaths that I made. I wanted a trio of wreaths for a long wall in the dining room, but couldn’t find any within my budget, and wreath forms at the craft store were just as pricey. So I picked up three packages of silver tinsel garland ($1 each), and made my own wreath forms from wire coat hangers and rolls of newspaper taped over top. Once the tinsel was wrapped around, you’d never know it’s humble origins! The bows and mini ornaments were added for a bit more embellishment.

Finally, our beautiful tree! Being matchy-matchy is reserved for my small feather tree; this one is decidedly more eclectic. Sailor Husband and I have rather sizable collections of ornaments that we’ve been getting since we were babies, which makes it fun to decorate the tree and tell stories. This year, we were able get our live tree from a group that gives active duty military members fresh cut trees for free. I feel so blessed!

Are you all ready for the holidays? We have a bunch of stuff left to do (clean and tidy up before my in-laws arrive), prepping dinner for Christmas day, and generally making sure things are as ready as they’ll be. I’m just trying to remind my OCD self that things don’t have to be perfect. After all, Christmas isn’t about meticulously decorated gingerbread houses, delicious cookies, or a perfectly wrapped gift, is it? Have a lovely Tuesday, dear friends!

when we got home from town this peacock was wandering about the neighborhood

peacock from roxanne on Vimeo.

I have four way stretch matt black vinyl!!!!!!! Wooot!!!!!!!



Templar and possibly Hush Catwoman and Mara make over here I come ;)

I will have some left over so if anyone is interested let me know :) It looks about 120cm wide. And has a good heavy hand.

My handsome Mork.



Our slim tree is in our dining room this year because that's where we had room for it.  In the corner you can see a package that is a gift for Brad and I.  There are also several bags of gifts that need to be wrapped in that corner as well.
(ETA: a daytime picture of our tree, the one I took last night was a little fuzzy.)



This is just a detail shot of the tree, and a couple of favorite Target finds, this year, the peacock (I think I could probably use her on a hat during the off-season, no?  And the long glass ornament in our wedding color.  We only hung a very small portion of our ornaments.

I'm sitting here with a kitty on my lap :D  I think I'm 1st choice tonight only  because Brad is out finishing up some Christmas shopping for me :) 

Last weekend was pretty nice.  The weather was "warm," 20-25 degrees...warm compared to earlier in the week.  Dinner at Hell's Kitchen in Mpls with friends on Friday night, new location, new decor, very cool...very busy, my food was good, but maybe not worth the $$.

After dinner on Friday night I took the 2nd attempt of my final and made an A!  A high enough A to give me an A in the class overall!  YAY!  I try to boost my GPA whenever possible.  I'm hoping the next class I'm taking with this instructor will be the same format as I seem to have learned how to study for his exams!

Titanic exhibit...My lady, Henrietta didn't survive the tragedy, but Brad's passenger did, he was in the first class.

My favorite part of the exhibit, besides taking a picture in front of a green screen then being digitally placed in front Titanic's grand staircase (we were severely under dressed for the occasion) was the optional viewing of Titanica before the exhibit.  I learned some pretty interesting things. Oh!  And there was a Teens gown on display!  That was another favorite.

We had dinner at Axel's, a nice steakhouse that is our "go to" special occasion restaurant.  I was up for something new, but didn't make reservations in time, so we stuck to Axel's.  It's always nice AND there are leftovers to be had!

Sunday we did some shopping for ourselves, because I have very few winter outfits suitable for work so I bought some new sweaters.  Still no idea what to wear for Christmas day.

And we bought a new Christmas tree.  I was debating on whether or not to spend the time to put one up since it's so late already, but we got it home and Brad said it was something he wanted to get done (I think he wanted it done for my sake).  So we did, it didn't take long and now I'm happy Brad nudged me because it looks like Christmas in our house!  

I'll take a picture to share...but  for now I need to make toffee cookies for potluck, so I'm off!

The theme of this winter break has been sleep. I've slept late each day, and also napped yesterday and today.

Also, I have zero motivation to work on my Jane Austen Evening things. This isn't good! A month is enough time to finish the corset and make the dress, although maybe not as elaborate as I want it to be. Oh well, it's also really nice knowing I have a backup wardrobe!

Things that made me happy on Sunday:

1. Bridget is home!!!!

2. Snow! All 15" or so of it was super pretty with the sun making it sparkle. What a lovely thing to wake up to!


3. Taking a long morning walk in the snow with my sister. Good exercise and good discussions. Entertaining moments included Bridget running into a ditch to avoid a snow plow and me falling on my butt on Rutherford Drive. Wipe out!


4. Watching people wipeout/get stuck on our hill. Actually we live in-between two hills, one steeper than the other, so it was a constant form of entertainment in both directions! The highlight was our next door neighbor wiping out right in front of our house, straight into our ditch.


5. Venturing out into public for a Wegman's (grocery store) and Costco run. By far the most dangerous part of the trip was the inexperienced and silly drivers around us. If you don't know how to drive in snow and ice STAY THE HECK HOME! *ahem*

6. Hanging out with Rachel over fried rice - yay for good friends!

7. Christmas lights glowing under the snow. Freaky!

You guys, any of you who don't have media_res on your friendslist already, she's going to be open for knitwear/handcraft commissions soon! I can attest personally that her work is AMAZING--I'm wearing the fingerless gloves she made me right now, and they are quite honestly the nicest gloves I have ever owned in my entire life. My arms have never looked so swanky before. Plus, I was able to get exactly what I was looking for, instead of compromising on whatever I could track down.

So check it out, this is a great opportunity!

my multi-media text @ http://thenewriver.us

The monsters have all been uploaded (excepting shadesong's, because I'm waiting for a reply re: text)! They're linked in the replies to the request entry.

If you'd like to get the original of your monster shipped to you, I'll be figuring out shipping details and should have a post up with information about that shortly after Christmas, Lord willin'. So watch this journal!

Also, kyrahlynn mentioned that she wanted to see all the monsters together, but that makes for a HUGE image-ful post. I thought I'd ask you lot, though--would you like me to post all the monsters together in one ginormous post? Or if you can think of a better way to share them all at once, feel free to suggest it.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this event--it was a blast! I had ludicrous amounts of fun designing monsters for y'all.

Things that made me happy on Saturday:

1. Bridget is HOME!!!!


2. Being snowed in Christmas week! Life does not get better than this – being snowed in with beloved ones, Woodhouse chocolates, Fortnum's Earl Grey Tea and card games of much hilarity. *very contented sigh*


3. Shoveling snow while it's still snowing. We did it three times throughout the day. Really with three people working on it together, it’s pretty fun!


4. Watching people wipe out/get stuck on our hill. It shouldn't be so entertaining but really it is. :>


5. Finishing my Christmas cards. The first and probably last time I make my Christmas cards. They are cute but it took WAY too much time! And that was with cutting my list super short this year too!

I read jenthompson recent entry about modesty. It reminded me of a woman who wants to become a preschool teacher. She is a muslim and has decided to use a veil that only shows her eyes. When the teachers asked her to reconsider her choice she protested that it was her right to have the veil. I can agree to that. Use any kind of veil you like. But if you choose to veil yourself it is because of a specific outlook on life. With the veil comes the values that a woman should not be seen outside her home. Why does she want to work in a public space like a preschool then? I have a muslim friend who thought it ridiculous. Why come to Sweden and use a veil that covers completely?

Today I have made about half of the markings on my Francaise. It is moving along. :D